Construction union UCATT are furious after the leader of the construction bosses attempted to dismiss key findings of One Death Is Too Many, Rita Donaghy's Government commissioned report into construction safety.

Before the ink was even dry on the report Stephen Ratcliffe the Director of the UK Contractors Group claimed that there was "no justification" for the extension of Gangmasters Licensing Act to the construction industry.

Alan Ritchie, General Secretary of UCATT, said: "Once again the true colours of the construction bosses have been revealed. Usually they claim that the safety of workers is their key priority and they are committed to reducing construction deaths. These are just crocodile tears. Every time the bosses ability to ruthlessly exploit workers is even questioned, they drop any pretence of being interested in safety."

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When recommending that the Gangmasters Act should be extended to the construction industry. Ms Donaghy, said: "Society should accept that there needs to be a standard below which no construction worker should have to work."

Mr Ritchie, added: "The Government did not take early action on regulating Gangmasters because they accepted the distortions made by Stephen Ratcliffe and construction bosses, that casualised labour was not a problem in the construction industry. Rita Donaghy has seen through these fantasies and recognised what is really happening in the industry."

It is the second time this year that the commitment of major construction companies to improve safety has been revealed to be less than wholesale.

In March it was revealed that 42 major construction companies had been blacklisting workers. The files of the company holding the blacklist, the Consulting Association, revealed that health and safety representatives and whistleblowers concerned about dangerous sites, were especially targeted and therefore denied work.

(CD/JM)